AsidesMTA Construction

Event reminder: Public Works in a Time of Crisis

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 22, 2011

Since many people were on vacation this past weekend and might not have seen my initial note, I just wanted to again draw your attention to an event tonight at the Museum of the City of New York. Entitled “Public Works in a Time of Crisis,” the panel discussion features Michael Horodniceanu of MTA Capital Construction and Jeffrey Zupan of the Regional Plan Association, among others. Michael Grynbaum of The Times will moderate the talk on the state of the city’s transportation megaplans.

The museum is located on 5th Ave. at 103rd St., and the event begins at 6:30 p.m. It costs $12 for non-members, $8 for seniors and students and $6 for museum members. However, those who call 917-492-3395 to reserve can mention Second Ave. Sagas to receive a discount. I’ll be there. Say hi if you see me.

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Gateway Tunnel

Looking at privatization to fund cross-Hudson projects

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 22, 2011

Who will pay for the proposed Gateway Tunnel? Some politicians are beginning to eye private investment.

By now, it’s hardly a debate that the New York City region needs more cross-Hudson crossings for all sorts of transportation modalities. Rail access into Midtown from New Jersey is woefully inadequate, and further upstate, the Tappan Zee Bridge is sagging under the weight of age and auto traffic. New York and New Jersey have various plans to replace and expand this infrastructure, but who will pay for it?

Most famous of the recent attempts at bridging the waters is the ARC Tunnel. Canceled by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie over a mixture of purely partisan politics and legitimate concerns that could have been addressed, the tunnel would have increased capacity across the Hudson River for New Jersey commuters. Instead, New Jersey may get an Amtrak-sponsored tunnel ten years down the road if the stars align right.

Today, New Jersey politicians are united in keeping federal money that should have gone to the project. They argue that returning the funds would jeopardize a future project. “While some of us may differ on whether or not the ARC project should have been cancelled,” a letter sent by the state’s Congressional delegation reads, “we are united in our effort to protect New Jersey taxpayers from harm. We are deeply concerned that forcing New Jersey to pay these funds will undermine efforts for a new Trans-Hudson tunnel, and require the State to postpone or cancel other essential, job-creating transit projects throughout the State. This will only exacerbate the State’s transportation and economic challenges, and impose an unfair burden on taxpayers in New Jersey.”

Of course, the ultimate fate of $270 million won’t determine the future of the Gateway Tunnel or any cross-Hudson improvements. Rather, as lawmakers attempt to struggle with the demand for better infrastructure and the inability to pay for any of it, they are turning to the idea of privatization. As an opening salvo, take this story about the Gateway Tunnel. In it, local businesses around the current Penn Station area talk about how thrilled they would be for a new tunnel and a bigger train station to arrive. “It would be tremendous for our business,” one bar owner said.

That’s the argument for privatization simplified and placed in a nutshell. Cities build great public works because the residents benefit, but at the same time, private interests often derive just as much, if not, in economic value from these projects. Second Ave. businesses are suffering today, but in six or seven years, the area will be booming with better access.

North of the city, lawmakers are even more intrigued by privatization. As the state looks to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge, it simply doesn’t have the money. The project will cost just $8.3 billion without rail and bus lanes and over $16 billion with them. “Unless things change very favorably rather quickly, it’s unlikely that either the federal or state government will be able to finance the changes they’re talking about,” New York State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins said to the Journal. “I’m not uncomfortable with finding private partners.”

Andrew Grossman talked more about these efforts last week:

More cities and states are turning to private companies to help fund their infrastructure or plug budget gaps. It’s a practice common in Europe and Asia, but one that has been slower to catch on in the U.S. Now, though, the firms that have done those projects are circling American state and local governments.

But private investors ultimately need to make money and want some control over the ability to set tolls. New York officials say some of those deals make them wary. Chicago’s sale of its parking-meter revenue—and the rate increases that resulted—have sparked a political backlash there.

“You don’t want to give the government authority away totally,” said Robert Gottheim, an aide to Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Manhattan Democrat who’s active on transportation issues. “While we are certainly interested in it, the devil’s in the details.”

Those details include a range of possible deals, from the unlikely option of entirely privatizing the bridge to simply contracting with a company to manage the entire construction process. Currently, different pieces of state projects are bid out to different contractors.

If lawmakers can throw a proper carrot to private investors — in the form of toll oversight or worse — private money will flow toward infrastructure. Of course, the state must retain some modicum of control over its infrastructure, and as funds are tight, it’s the right to ask about how these private deals will take shape. Can they lead to better rail access and new bridges without exacting too high a cost on taxpayers? If history is any guide, it’s tough to see just how this will play out across a region straining at its infrastructure seams.

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MTA Technology

A crowdsourcing solution to subway tracking

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 21, 2011

A few weeks ago, Alex Bell, the brother of a long-time classmate and baseball teammate of mine, e-mailed me about a project he’s working on. A lifelong New Yorker, Bell wanted to use something prevalent — smartphones — to track subway trains. Instead of a complicated and expensive technology solution to real-time train location systems, Bell believes he can, in his words, “use the sensing capabilities of the smartphone to map the current location of all the NYC subways in real time.”

Enter the Subway Arrival Mobile Phone application. By using passive data and Base Station ID numbers, those who opt into Bell’s project can assist in providing essentially background data on train location. Bell pondered those who know where a train is when and determined that the short list includes the people on the train, the conductor, the MTA control room and, most importantly, those who have just gotten off the train.

“In a perfect world,” Bell said to me, “all I would have had to do was write a simple application which let users broadcast that they had left such and such train heading downtown. But of course no busy New Yorkers would have engaged in that, which is called participatory sensing. Instead I had to devise a method of using opportunistic sensing — sensing that doesn’t involve the user.”

To accomplish this, Bell focused on the BaseStation Identification number, which provides information on which cell tower is sending and receiving data to that phone. The application, he says, looks for periods of “no reception underground coupled with a large distance change.”

“By using some signal processing algorithms the false positives are weeded out and the results are sent, anonymously, to a server,” he explained. “I have optimized the application to have almost negligible effect on battery life. And by keeping the data anonymous, the security concerns are removed.”

This is crowdsourcing at its finest, and it just might work. To allow for differences in, say, walking speed or mobile signal pick-up, the application relies on a hidden Markov model to adjust the time variables. Of course, though, the app still relies on a critical mass of people to make it work. “As I have constructed it, when more and more users download the free application their phones will start reporting the location of the trains. The annotated Google Map, on both the phone and the website, will show icons which indicate which train and traveling in which direction,” Bell notes. “I may configure the server to also approximate arrival times; however, i think it may be more intuitive to see the icon approaching your station. The biggest IF I see is that if not enough users download the app then the data will be spotty and incomplete. Then users will delete the app before it had reached the critical mass of people to make it truly useful.”

Recently, Bell has updated the map to include confidence intervals based upon the amount of data he has collected, and he is working on building an API so other developers can take advantage of the platform. Currently, Bell is maintaining a Twitter feed and is part of the NYC Big Apps competition. It’s certainly a solid idea behind a problem that has plagued the city’s subway system for years.

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AsidesService Advisories

On President’s Day, Saturday service with some changes

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 21, 2011

Everyone loves a three-day weekend, and while the MTA usually doesn’t change much service on holiday Mondays, this President’s Day, they’re sneaking in some extra work. The subways and buses are operating on a Saturday schedule but with the following changes: 5 trains will run between Dyre Avenue and Bowling Green and will not run to Nereid Avenue. The 6 and 7 express trains, the rush hour Rockaway Park A, the entire B, the 179th Street E and skip-stop Z lines will not be running. J trains will operate between Jamaica Center and Chambers Street. M trains will operate between Myrtle Avenue-Broadway and Metropolitan Avenue. Q trains will run between 57th Street-7th Avenue and Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue. As always, leave yourself some extra time to travel. I’ll be back later with more.

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MTA Construction

Event of the Week: Public Works in a Time of Crisis

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 20, 2011

For those of us who are following along as the MTA moves ever so slowly with its great public works projects, an event on Tuesday at the Museum of the City of New York is right up our alleys. Entitled “Roads to Nowhere: Public Works in a Time of Crisis,” the panel discussion will feature top officials from the MTA and Regional Plan Association, among others, talking with Times reporter Michael Grynbaum on the state of the city’s rail infrastructure.

The discussion starts at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 22nd, and the museum is at 5th Ave. and 103rd St. The description is as follows:

New Yorkers living in the midst of economic crisis are getting mixed signals about the future of public works. Will the No. 7 subway line be extended to New Jersey? Will the Second Avenue subway ever be finished? When will real work on Moynihan Station get started? What is the fate of New York’s public works given the fiscal crisis in Albany and the economic stranglehold of “The Great Recession”?

Michael M. Grynbaum, transportation reporter for The New York Times, leads a discussion on public works in a time of fiscal crisis with Dr. Michael Horodniceanu, President, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Capital Construction Company (MTACC); Joan Byron, Director, Sustainability and Environmental Justice Initiative at Pratt Institute; Denise Richardson, Managing Director of the General Contractors Association of New York; and Jeffrey M. Zupan, senior transportation fellow at the Regional Plan Association. Co-sponsored by the Pratt Center for Community Development and the Regional Plan Association and presented as part of the Museum’s ongoing Urban Forum series on New York Infrastructure.

The museum is asking those who plan to attend to register ahead of time. It costs $12 for non-members, $8 for seniors and students and $6 for museum members. However, those who call 917-492-3395 to reserve can mention Second Ave. Sagas to receive a discount. I’ll be there. Say hi if you see me.

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AsidesSubway Cell Service

Transit Wireless’ Chelsea subway cell pilot ahead of schedule

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 19, 2011

A long delayed plan to bring cell service to six stations in Chelsea — and eventually the entire city — is currently ahead of schedule, DNA Info reported yesterday. Transit Wireless, the MTA contractor tasked with bringing cell signals underground, will soon begin installing fiberoptics near the various 14th St. stations on the West Side that service the L, A/C/E and 1/2/3 trains as well as the local stop at 23rd St. and 8th Ave. This six-station pilot will be the first step in a long-awaited effort to bring the 21st Century to the early 20th Century system.

These stations have been on the proverbial map for nearly three and a half years. In September of 2007, the MTA signed a deal with Transit Wireless to wire these six stations, it became clear that the company didn’t have the resources to fulfill its terms. The deal languished for nearly three years until Jay Walder vowed to get it back on track. Last July, Transit Wireless found an investor and signed up some carriers with a 2012 debut in mind.

Now, things are moving forward, and straphangers may be able to anticipate subway cell service within the next year. Of course, the millions of riders who use aboveground stations already enjoy cellular signals in the subway, but that won’t stop people from bemoaning rude callers. Will it be a a panacea or a prison?

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Service Advisories

The short- and long-term service changes

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 18, 2011

After a busy week, we have a busy slate of service advisories. I have two new long-term changes and then the weekend work follows. I’ll update President’s Day on Sunday night.

First, the 6’s Pelham Line rehab is nearing an end, and the final two stations are set to close at the end of February. Elder Avenue and St. Lawrence Avenue will close for eight months starting on February 28. The MTA is urging riders to take the Bx4, Bx4A or Bx27 buses to nearby stations.

Along the Queens Boulevard line, the news is worse. Train service along the E and F will be disrupted on nights and weekends through 2012. The MTA has a variety of projects to complete along these lines. Those include signal modernization along 53rd St., a new fan plant at Jackson Ave., track work in the 53rd St. tunnel and at 23rd St.-Ely Avenue and 47th-50th Sts. and connecting the Second Ave. Subway to the station at 63rd st. Sounds like fun.

Anyway, below are the weekend service changes. These come to me directly from New York City Transit and are subject to change without notice. Check signs in your local station and listen for on-board announcements. Subway Weekender has the map.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 19 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 22, Manhattan-bound 2 trains skip Eastern Parkway, Grand Army Plaza and Bergen Street due to tunnel structural repairs.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, February 19, Sunday, February 20 and Monday, February 21, Manhattan-bound 3 trains skip Eastern Parkway, Grand Army Plaza and Bergen Street due to tunnel structural repairs.


During the weekend overnight hours from 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. on Tuesday, downtown 4 trains skip 33rd, 28th, 23rd Streets, Astor Place, Bleecker, Spring and Canal Streets due to gap filler replacement at 14th Street-Union Square and work on the Broadway/Lafayette Street-to-Bleecker Street connection.


During the weekend overnight hours from 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. on Tuesday, Manhattan-bound 4 trains skip Eastern Parkway, Grand Army Plaza and Bergen Street due to tunnel structural repairs.


From 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Saturday, February 19, from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Sunday, February 20, and from 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Monday, February 21, 5 trains run every 20 minutes between Dyre Avenue and Bowling Green due to work on the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer connection.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday. February 19 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 22, downtown 6 trains skip 33rd, 28th, and 23rd Streets, Astor Place, Bleecker, Spring and Canal Streets due to gap filler replacement at 14th Street-Union Square and work on the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer connection.


From 4 a.m. Saturday, February 19 to 10 p.m. Sunday, February 20, Brooklyn-bound D trains run on the N line from 36th Street to Stillwell Avenue due to track panel installation between 50th Street and 55th Street. There are no Brooklyn-bound D trains stopping at 9th Avenue, Ft. Hamilton Parkway, 50th, 55th, 71st, 79th Streets, 18th and 20th Avenues, Bay Parkway, 25th Avenue and Bay 50th Street stations.


From 12:01 a.m. to 4 a.m. Saturday, February 19, and at all times beginning 10:01 p.m. Sunday, February 20 until 6 p.m. Sunday, February 27, Brooklyn-bound D trains skip 25th Avenue due to the installation of platform stairs.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 19 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 22, E trains run on the F line between Roosevelt Avenue and West 4th Street due to work on the 5th Avenue Interlocking Signal System. The platforms at 5th Avenue-53rd Street, Lexington Avenue-53rd Street and 23rd Street-Ely Avenue are closed. Customers may take the R, G or shuttle bus. Free shuttle buses connect Court Square (G)/23rd Street-Ely Avenue (E), Queens Plaza (R) and the 21st Street-Queensbridge (F) stations. Note: During the overnight hours, E trains stop at 36th Street, Steinway Street, 46th Street, Northern Blvd and 65th Street.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 19 to 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 22, Brooklyn-bound F trains run on the A line from West 4th Street to Jay Street-MetroTech due to cable work. There are no Brooklyn-bound F trains at Broadway-Lafayette Street, 2nd Avenue, Delancey Street, East Broadway or York Street.


From 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday. February 19 and Sunday, February 20, M trains skip Fresh Pond Road in both directions due to platform edge repair. Customers should use the Forest Avenue station instead. Free connections are available to the Q58, B13 and B20 buses.


During the overnight hours from 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and to 5 a.m. on Monday, Brooklyn-bound N trains run over the Manhattan Bridge between Canal Street and DeKalb Avenue due to the installation of platform tiles at Cortlandt Street. There are no Brooklyn-bound N trains at City Hall, Rector Street, Whitehall Street, Court Street and Jay Street-MetroTech. Customers may use the 4 at nearby stations instead.


From 4 a.m. Saturday, February 19 to 10 p.m. Sunday, February 20, Manhattan-bound N trains skip 30th Av, Broadway, 36th Av and 39th Av due to track panel installation from Astoria Blvd to 36th Avenue.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, February 21, Manhattan-bound N trains run on the D line from Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue to 36th Street due to track panel installation from north of Kings Highway to north of Bay Parkway. There are no Manhattan-bound N trains at 86th Street, Avenue U, Kings Highway, Bay Parkway, 20th Avenue, 18th Avenue, Ft. Hamilton Parkway or 8th Avenue stations.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, February 19 and Sunday, February 20, Brooklyn-bound R trains run over the Manhattan Bridge between Canal Street and DeKalb Avenue due to the installation of platform tiles at Cortlandt Street. There are no Brooklyn-bound R trains at City Hall, Rector Street, Whitehall Street, Court Street, and Jay Street-MetroTech stations. Customers may use the 4 at nearby stations instead.

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AsidesMTA

Post: GCT Apple Store targeting Metrazur spot?

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 18, 2011

As we try to figure out where in Grand Central the rumored Apple Store may land, today’s Post sheds some light on the topic. According to Garrett Sloane, the computer giant is targeting the Terminal’s main hall and will take over the balcony area currently inhabited by Charlie Palmer’s Metrazur restaurant. Reportedly, Metrazur’s backers are “scouting new locations,” and the MTA could open some closed balcony space to make room for the vast store. On the record, Metrazur called this a “rumor” while Apple and the MTA declined to comment on the speculation.

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MTA Construction

Rehab at 4th/9th to include reopened entrances

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 18, 2011

The east side of 4th Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets in Brooklyn is currently a blighted one. The subway entrance and storefronts will reopen next year. (Photo by Benjamin Kabak)

The main thrust of the Culver Viaduct rehab involves a complete overhaul of the station at Smith and 9th Sts. At the highest altitude in the system, the F and G stop has great views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan Skyline, and it is a mess. The walls and staircases have holes; the paint is flaking off; the viaduct is sheathed in mesh to prevent it from falling. In a nutshell, it needs work.

Down the road, though, the station at 4th Ave./9th Sts. is no better. Windows on the once-beautiful overpass haven’t seen the light of day for decades, and the platform and canopies are in equally as bad a shape as those at Smith St. Still, as the rehab project’s cost ballooned, the MTA had to scale back work at 4th Avenue. Now, though, the on-again, off-again rehab at that station is firmly back on thanks to the MTA’s component-based approach to repair.

Even better, though, is news from the past week that will improve pedestrian flow and passenger safety: Thanks to an infusion of funds from Marty Markowitz and Joan Millman will ensure that, as part of the station rehab, the entrances on the east side of 4th Ave. will be reopened as well. As first reported by the Brooklyn Paper and confirmed this week by the MTA, Markowitz will contribute $2 million for station improvements and Assembly Member Joan Millman secured $800,000 for work on the 78-year-old station.

Overstating his role just a bit in securing less than one percent of the funds needed for the entire Culver Viaduct rehab, Markowitz nevertheless spoke of the changes coming to the station and his vision for 4th Avenue as a grand Brooklyn Boulevard. “With funding I have allocated along with Assemblywoman Joan Millman, the MTA can pull back the billboards, fix the crumbling bricks and restore this 1930s art deco beauty to its former glory,” he said. “Its location on 4th Avenue at the crossroads of Gowanus and Prospect Park is highly visible from Downtown Brooklyn to Sunset Park, and its restoration as a signature streetscape element will mark the beginning of what I hope will be many more efforts to transform the entire stretch of 4th Avenue from the Atlantic Ocean to Atlantic Avenue into my grand vision for a magnificent Brooklyn Boulevard.”

Millman chose to focus on the pedestrian improvements on the east side of the station. Assemblywoman Millman added: “As more people discover how wonderful it is to live in Brooklyn, especially along and near 4th Avenue, the increased demands on mass transit must be met. I also look forward to the reopening of the east side station house on 4th Avenue,” she said.

It’s hard to understate how important it is to reopen those east side entrances. Right now, those heading to and from this popular station must cross 4th Ave. to get there, and the intersection at 4th Ave. and 9th St. has long been one of the more dangerous ones in the city. This entrance, long a blight on the area, will be a big help to those looking to avoid crossing the busy street.

As for the details of the work, the MTA says all entrance doors and storefront windows will be replaced. The authority hopes to bring in new retail tenants in 2012, but the entrance itself will remain unstaffed. Below is a slideshow of photos I snapped there last week. The physical improvements will be welcomed indeed.

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AsidesNew York City Transit

After fare hikes, evasion and arrests climb

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on February 18, 2011

As the MTA’s fares keep going up, so too does the number of people trying to evade paying. According to Metro, arrests due to fare evasion climbed to over 2200 last month, and Transit officials are attributing the increase in jumpers to the higher costs of a subway ride. “There is usually a slight uptick [in fare-jumpers] anytime there is a fare increase,” Transit spokesman Kevin Ortiz said to Metro.

Meanwhile, fare-evasion summons were up by nearly 11 percent in 2010 over 2009. In the post-station agent era, cops made 21,803 fare evasion arrests, up from 19,567 the year before. The MTA says it is “targeting high-incidence locations” in an effort to catch those sneaking into the system. Ultimately, the station agent crowd will decry this as a sign that the system needs more eyes, but the bleed rates seem to be well within acceptable margins as total paid ridership was 1.6 billion last year.

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